your meaning is that if all the World would agree to such a Toleration though then the true Religion would lose by it in those few places where it is now establish'd as the National Religion yet upon the whole matter it would be a gainer by the bargain because then it would stand upon even terms with all other Religions in so many more places where now it is either not at all suffer'd or at least under great disadvantages If this be the thing you aim at then 1. I suppose you do not hope you shall perswade the whole World to consent in your Toleration or that you shall prevail with Pagans Mahumetans and Papists every where to allow true and sound Religion the same terms with their own supposing you could prevail with those of that Religion to do this to them And if that Religion alone should tolerate all other Religions whilest it self is tolerated by none I think it is not easy to conceive how it would be a gainer by so doing But 2. Supposing your Toleration were set up all the World over Even in that case it is so far from being probable that the true Religion would be any way advantaged by it that on the contrary I think there is great reason to fear that without God's extraordinary Providence it would in a much shorter time than any one that does not well consider the matter would imagine be most effectually extirpated by it throughout the World Considering what has already been observ'd that even when the true Religion was the onely Religion in the World it did not long continue so but the depraved Nature of Man soon found out other Religions more agreeable to it self which quickly prevail'd and overspread the World As to the Inquisition Dragooning or any other such Severities which are any where used to keep or force men to the National Religion I suppose I need not put you in mind that I condemn them as much as you do You tell me the Author of the Letter says Truth will do well enough if she were once left to shift for her self The contrary whereof has been sufficiently shewn She seldom has receiv'd and he fears never will receive much Assistance from the Power of great men to whom she is but rarely known and more rarely welcome And yet God himself foretold and promised that Kings should be nursing Fathers and Queens nursing Mothers to his Church As I doubt they cannot be if Truth does not receive Assistance from their Power Errors indeed prevail by the Assistance of foreign and borrow'd Succours And without it too Truth makes way into our Understanding by her own Light and is but the weaker for any borrow'd Force that Violence can add to her Yet moderate Penalties may make way for Truth to men's Understanding that so she may make way into it by her own Light And then you add These words of his how hard soever they may seem to you may help you to conceive how he should think to do service to true Religion by recommending and perswading such a Toleration as he proposed And now you go on pray tell me your self whether you do not think true Religion would be a gainer by it if such a Toleration establish'd there would permit the Doctrine of the Church of England to be freely preach'd and its Worship set up in any Popish Mahumetan or Pagan Country Sir I have told you already that I think it would for a time though I think withall that an universal Toleration would ruine it both there and every where else in the end And I have told you why I think so You add If you do not you have a very ill Opinion of the Religion of the Church of England and must own that it can onely be propagated and supported by Force But why may not I have as good an Opinion of the Religion of the Church of England as I have of Noah's Religion notwithstanding that I think it cannot now be propagated and supported without using some kinds or degrees of Force If say you you think it would gain in those Countries by such a Toleration you are then of the Author's mind Not so Sir For as I fear it would lose all at last by such a Toleration so I doubt not but at present it would lose vastly more by it where it is now Nationally received than it would gain where false or unsound Religions are so received But say you if you allow such a Toleration useful to Truth in other Countries you must find something very peculiar in the Air that must make it less useful to Truth in England And 't will savour of much partiality and be too absurd I fear for you to own that Toleration will be advantageous to true Religion all the World over except onely in this Island Though I much suspect this as absurd as it is lies at the bottom And you build all you say upon this lurking Supposition that the National Religion now in England back'd by the Publick Authority of the Law is the onely true Religion and therefore no other is to be tolerated How useful to Truth or advantangeous to true Religion I think Toleration would be in other Countries or all the World over I suppose I have by this time sufficiently declared But why you should suspect that I look upon this Island as the onely part of the World that would receive no advantage by it I cannot imagine If you will take my word for it I assure you I think there are many other Countries in the World where whatever their Air be your Toleration would be as little useful to Truth as in England For notwithstanding the lurking Supposition you speak of I am far enough from thinking that the true Religion is confined to this Kingdom or this Island But as to my supposing that the National Religion now in England back'd by the Publick Authority of the Law is the onely true Religion if you own with our Author that there is but one true Religion I cannot see how you your self can avoid supposing the same For you own your self of the Church of England and consequently you own the National Religion now in England to be the true Religion for that is her Religion And therefore if you believe there is but one true Religion there is no help for it but you must suppose with me that the National Religion now in England back'd with the Publick Authority of the Law is the onely true Religion But this is not all the lurking Supposition you speak of For you suspect me likewise to suppose that no other Religion is to be tolerated By which if you mean that as this onely true Religion ought to be received wherever it is preach'd so where-ever it is receiv'd I suppose all other Religions ought to be discouraged in some measure by the Civil Powers I own that I do suppose it And I think I have shewn good
reason why But you go on and speaking of this lurking Supposition That the National Religion now in England is the onely true Religion and therefore no other is to be tolerated you say Which being a Supposition equally unavoidable and equally just in other Countries unless we can imagine that every where but in England men believe what at the same time they think to be a Lie will in other places exclude Toleration and thereby hinder Truth from the means of propagating it self How Sir Is this Supposition equally unavoidable and equally just in other Countries where false Religions are the National Religion For that you must mean or nothing to the purpose If so then I fear it will be equally true too and equally rational For otherwise I see not how it can be either equally unavoidable or equally just For if it be not equally true iâ— cannot be equally just and if it be not equally rational it cannot be equally unavoidable But if it be equally true and equally rational then either all Religions are true or none is true For if they be all equally true and any one of them be not true then none of them can be true And then the least that will follow is that we must unsuppose again what we supposed but now viz. that the Religion now establish'd in England is the onely true Religion For whether we admit that all Religions are true or that none is true we must unavoidably admit that there is no onely true Religion And if there be no onely true Religion then neither the Religion now establish'd in England nor any other can be the onely true Religion There is therefore no remedy but you must either recall this Assection of yours or own these Consequences which flow from it But I hope when you have thought a little more of the matter you will be so far from asserting that the Supposition that the National Religion is the onely true Religion is in all Countries equally unavoidable and equally just that you will acknowledge that it cannot be at all unavoidable or just where any false Religion is the National Religion Otherwise you will be forced to own that men may be bound to embrace false Religions For whatever Religion any man does unavoidably and justly suppose or judge to be the onely true Religion that Religion he must needs be bound to embrace because he has all the reason to embrace it which any man can have for embracing any Religion whatsoever and he can no more reasonably reject it than any other man may reject the onely true Religion Now if this Supposition that the National is the onely true Religion be indeed neither equally unavoidable nor equally just in other Countries as it is where the True is the National Religion then neither will the Supposition that therefore no other Religion is to be tolerated be either equally unavoidable or equally just in other Countries as it is where the True is the National Religion And therefore if this Supposition shall any where exclude the Toleration of the Truth and thereby hinder it from the means of propagating it self the blame will lie upon those who admit that Supposition where there is no just ground for it who therefore must answer for the Consequences of it The Toleration the Fruits whereof I say give no encouragement to hope for any advantage from our Author's Toleration to true Religion is that as I thought you would easily have guess'd which almost all but those of the Church of England enjoyed in the times of the Blessed Reformation as it was call'd And for the Fruits of it viz. the Sects and Heresies which it produced some of which I say still remain with us how numerous and of what quality they were some yet living remember and the Writers of those times do sufficiently discover But here whatever the Fruits of that Toleration were you boldly say that if the Magistrates will severely and impartially set themselves against Vice in whomsoever it is found and leave men to their own Consciences in their Articles of Faith and Ways of Worship true Religion will be spread wider and be more fruitful in the Lives of its Professors than ever hitherto it has been by the imposition of Creeds and Ceremonies It seems then with you the rejecting the true Faith and the refusing to worship God in decent Ways prescribed by those to whom God has left the ordering of such matters are not comprehended in the name of Vice Otherwise you must allow the Magistrates to set themselves against these things likewise if they must severely and impartially set themselves against Vice which would not consist with leaving men to their own Consciences in them But if you except these things and will not allow them to be call'd by the name of Vice perhaps other men may think it as reasonable to except some other things which they have a kindness for For instance Some perhaps may except arbitrary Divorcing others Polygamy others Concubinacy others simple Fornication other Marrying within Degrees which have hitherto been thought forbidden And all these it may be will boldly say too that if the Magistrates will severely and impartially set themselves against Vice and leave men to their own Consciences in these things Vertue and good Manners would be spread wider and shine more gloriously in the Lives of men than ever hitherto it has done by the help of any Laws that have been made about these matters But Sir whether the Magistrates setting themselves severely and impartially against what I suppose you call Vice or the imposition of found Creeds and decent Ceremonies does more conduce to the spreading true Religion and rendering it fruitful in the Lives of its Professours we need not examine I confess I think both together do best And this I think is as much as needs to be said to your next Paragraph also As to what our Author offers in behalf of the Toleration he contends for I thought the whole Strength of it comprized in this Argument There is but one Way of Salvation or but one true Religion No man can be saved by this Religion who does not believe it to be the true Religion This Belief is to be wrought in men by Reason and Argument not by outward Force and Compulsion Therefore all such Force is utterly of no use for the promoting true Religion and the Salvation of Souls And therefore no body can have any Right to use any Force or Compulsion for the bringing men to the true Religion neither any Private Person nor any Ecclesiastical Officer Bishop Priest or other nor any Church or Religious Society nor the Civil Magistrate But to this you say If it be a true Consequence that men must be tolerated if Magistrates have no Commission or Authority to punish them for Matters of Religion then the onely Strength of that Letter lies not in the unfitness of Force to convince Men's
which reason at least I think I might well be startled at the largeness of our Author's Toleration For whereas you say you do not see why Pagans should not be tolerated as well as others if we wish their Conversion whatever may be said for the tolerating of others I think it is plain enough as to them that we ought not to purchase the opportunity of conventing them by suffering them to commit those Indignities and Abominations among us which they call Religion till they are converted But as to the converting Iews Mahumetans and Pagans to Christianity I fear there will be no great progress made in it till Christians come to a better agreement and union among themselves I am sure our Saviour pray'd that all that should believe in him might be one in the Father and in him i. e. I suppose in that holy Religion which he taught them from the Father that the World might believe that the Father had sent him And therefore when he comes to make inquisition why no more Iews Mahumetans and Pagans have been converted to his Religion I very much fear that a great part of the blame will be found to lie upon the Authors and Promoters of Sects and Divisions among the professors of it Which therefore I think all that are guilty and all that would not be guilty ought well to consider In what sense I allow that Force is improper to convert Men to any Religion has already been sufficiently declared in my Answer and I shall have occasion to speak more of it afterwards Where I say that some seem to place the advancement of Trade and Commerce above all other Considerations you tell me that if I do not know that the Author places the advancement of Trade above Religion my Insinuation is very uncharitable But I thought I had sufficiently prevented such an interpretation of my words by acquiâ—ting the Author but just before of any ill design towards Religion That there are some Men in the World who are justly suspected of the Crime I mention I believe you will not deny And I assure you I did not intend by those words to bring any Man under the suspicion of it who has not given just cause for it I say speaking of the Toleration which our Author proposes I see no reason from any experiment which has been made to expect that true Religion would be any way a gainer by it And you tell me I have an experiment of this in the Christian Religion in its first appearance in the World and several hundred of years after But how does that appear Why you say the Christian Religion was then better preserv'd more widely propagated in proportion and render'd more fruitful in the lives of its Professors than ever since though then Iews and Pagans were tolerated and more than tolerated by the Governments of those places where it grew up And is this your Experiment of the true Religion's being a gainer by Toleration The Christian Religion prosper'd more you say in those times than ever since though then Iews and Pagans were tolerated c. and therefore it was a gainer by the Toleration of Iews and Pagans Is there any manner of Consequence in this That the Christian Religion prosper'd more in those times than ever since though then Iews and Pagans were tolerated I readily grant you But whoever does but understand what though means must needs see that this is so far from proving what you inferr from it that it strongly proves the contrary viz. that the Toleration of Jews and Pagans was rather an hindrance than an advantage to the Christian Religion But let us see the utmost you can make of this Experiment of yours You say you hope I do not imagine the Christian Religion has lost any of its first Beauty Force or Reasonableness by having been almost 2000 Years in the World that I should fear it should be less able now to shift for it self without the help of Force And you doubt not but I look upon it still to be the Power and Wisdom of God for our Salvation and therefore cannot suspect it less capable to prevail now by its own Truth and Light than it was in the first Ages of the Church when poor contemptible Men without Authority or the countenance of Authority had alone the care of it In which words I understand you to say these three things 1. That the Christian Religion prevail'd at first meerly by its own Beauty Force or Reasonableness without the help of Authority or Force 2. That that Religion has still the same Beauty Force or Reasonableness which it had at first 3. Lastly that therefore it is now as well able to shift for it self and to prevail without any assistance of Authority as it was then Now to clear this matter I must observe that in the Beauty Force or Reasonableness by which you say the Christian Religion prevail'd at first without the Assistance of Authority either you include the Miracles done by the poor contemptible men you speak of to make their Religion prevail or you do not If you do not then the meaning of your first Assertion is that the Christian Religion prevail'd at first without the Assistance of Authority meerly by the Beauty Force or Reasonableness which it had separate from those Miracles Which I believe you will not undertake to defend But if you do include the Miracles then your second Assertion is manifestly false For I am sure you cannot say that the Christian Religion is still accompanied with Miracles as it was at its first planting And so the Conclusion you draw from thence That therefore the Christian Religion is now as well able to shift for it self and to prevail without any Assistance of Authority as it was at first falls to the ground You add This as I take it has been made use of by Christians generally and by some of our Church in particular as an Argument for the Truth of the Christian Religion that it grew and spread and prevail'd without any Aid from Force or the Assistance of the Powers in being Wherein I hope you are mistaken for I am sure this is a very bad Argument That the Christian Religion so contrary in the nature of it as well to Flesh and Bloud as to the Powers of Darkness should prevail as it did and that not onely without any Assistance from Authority but even in spight of all the opposition which Authority and a wicked World join'd with those infernal Powers could make against it This I acknowledge has deservedly been insisted upon by Christians as a very good Proof of the Truth of their Religion But to argue the Truth of the Christian Religion from its meer prevailing in the World without any Aid from Force or the Assistance of the Powers in being as if whatever Religion should so prevail must needs be the true Religion whatever may be intended is really not to
defend the Christian Religion but to betray it For neither does the true Religion always prevail without the Assistance of the Powers in being nor is that always the true Religion which does so spread and prevail As I doubt not but you will acknowledge with me when you have but consider'd within how few Generations after the Floud the Worship of False Gods prevail'd against the Religion which Noah profess'd and taught his Children which was undoubtedly the true Religion almost to the utter exclusion of it though that at first was the onely Religion in the World without any Aid from Force or the Assistance of the Powers in being for any thing we find in the History of those Times and as we may reasonably believe considering that it found an entrance into the World and entertainment in it when it could have no such Aid or Assistance Of which besides the Corruption of Humane Nature I suppose there can no other Cause be assigned or none more probable than this that the Powers then in being did not do what they might and ought to have done towards the preventing or checking that horrible Apostasy You go on And if it be a mark of the true Religion that it will prevail by its own Light and Strength but that false Religions will not but have need of Force and foreign Helps to support them nothing certainly can be more for the advantage of true Religion than to take away Compulsion every where But if this be not a mark of the true Religion as you have not proved it to be then what you conclude here may not be true That the true Religion has always Light and Strength of its own sufficient to prevail with all that consider it seriously and without Prejudice I readily grant But if when you make it a mark of the true Religion that it will prevail by its own Light and Strength you mean as it is plain you must that it will always prevail in the World against other Religions meerly by its own Light and Strength without the Assistance either of Miracles or of Authority then I must tell you that prevailing by its own Light and Strength is so far from being a mark of the true Religion that it is not true that the true Religion will so prevail by its own Light and Strength The Instance but now given is too great a proof of this For if you admit that Noah's Religion was the true Religion you must admit like wise that it had Light and Strength enough to prevail with all that should but fairly consider it And yet however we find that it was so far from prevailing against false Religions without foreign Help that though at first it had quiet possession of the World without any false Religion to contest its Title yet it did not long maintain its advantage but notwithstanding all its Light and Strength was within a few Generations almost extinguish'd and lost out of the World Idolatry prevailing against it not by its own Light and Strength you may be sure for it could have nothing of either nor yet by the help of Force as has already been shew'd but meerly by the advantage which it had in the Corruption and Pravity of Humane Nature left as it is most reasonable to suppose to it self unbridled by Authority For to the corrupt Nature of Man false Religions are ever more agreeable than the true For whatever Hardships some false Religions may impose it will however always be easier to carnal and wordly-minded men to give even their first-born for their Transgressions than to mortify the Lusts from which they spring which no Religion but the true requires of them And upon this account though there is nothing more certain than that false Religions will never prevail by their own Light and Strength yet it seems contrary to Reason as well as to Experience to say that they always have need of Force and foreign Helps to support them On the contrary I see no reason to doubt but the meer Agreeableness of false Religions to Flesh and Bloud may very well support them without foreign Helps whilest the true Religion may stand in need of them not for any defects of its own but by reason of the Folly Perversness and Wickedness of Men. If therefore it be no mark of the true Religion that it will prevail by its own Light and Strength but that false Religions will not but have need of Force and foreign Helps to support them as you have not proved it is and I think I have proved it is far from being so then it does not yet appear that nothing can be more for the advantage of the true Religion than to take away Compulsion every where You say A Religion that is of God wants not the Assistance of Humane Authority to make it prevail Which is not simply or always true Indeed when God takes the matter wholly into his own hands as he does at his first revealing and planting a Religion there can then be no need of the Assistance of Humane Authority because then to make such a Religion appear to be his God himself does all that is requisite to make it prevail But when once God has sufficiently settled his Religion in the World so that if Men will but thenceforth do what they may and ought in their several Capacities to preserve and propagate it it may subsist and prevail without that extraordinary Assistance from him which was necessary for its first establishment then he leaves it to their care under his ordinary Providence to try whether they will do their Duties or not leaving them answerable for all that may follow from their neglect And then if that Religion will not prevail without the Assistance of Humane Authority â—t cannot be said not to need that Assistance to make it prevail I guess say you when this dropp'd from you you had narrow'd your Thoughts to your own Age and Country But if you will enlarge them a little beyond the Confines of England I do not doubt but you will easily imagine that if in Italy Spain Portugal c. the Inquisition and in France their Dragooâ—ing and in other parts those Severities that are used to keep or force men to the National Religion were taken away and instead thereof the Toleration proposed by the Author were set up the true Religion would be a gainer by it How easily soever I can imagine that in this case the true Religion would for some time be a gainer by our Author's Toleration because then it would be tolerated in Italy Spain Portugal France c. where now it is not Yet I think it is manifest enough that it does not follow from thence that in England or wherever else the true Religion is Nationally received it would reap any advantage by having its present Establishment taken away and our Author's i. e. an universal Toleration of Religions set up instead of it But I suppose
the Gospel destroys the Coactive Power of the Magistrate or not If you say it does not and I suppose you will not say it does then it seems the Magistrate may use his Coactive Power without offending against the Mildness and Gentleness of the Gospel And so though they that have not that Power can onely use Prayers and Intreaties to gain a hearing yet it will consist well enough with the Mildness and Gentleness of the Gospel for the Magistrate to use his Coactive Power to procure them a hearing where their Prayers and Intreaties will not do it But you say Force in my indirect Way is much more proper and likely to make men receive and embrace Error than Truth 2. Because the Magistrates of the World being few of them in the right Way not one of ten let me take which side I will perhaps not one of an hundred being of the true Religion 't is likely my indirect way of using Force would do an hundred or at least ten times as much harm as good c. Which would have been to the purpose if I had asserted that every Magistrate may use Force my indirect way or any way to bring men to his own Religion whatever that be But if I assert no such thing as no man I think but an Atheist will assert it then this is quite beside the business But to shew me that under another pretense I put into the Magistrate's hands as much Power to force men to his Religion as any the openest Persecutors can pretend to you ask What difference is there between punishing men to bring them to Mass and punishing them to bring them to consider those Reasons and Arguments which are proper and sufficient to convince them that they ought to go to Mass A Question which I shall then think my self obligeâ— to answer when you have produced those Reasons and Arguments which are proper and sufficient to convince men that they ought to go to Mass. If you reply say you to this pleasant Question you meant Reasons and Arguments proper and sufficient to convince them of the Truth I answer if you meant so why did not you say so As if it were possible for any man that reads my Answer to think I meant otherwise But say you if you had said so it would in this case do you little service For the Mass in France is as much supposed the Truth as the Liturgy here So that it seems in your opinion whatsoever is supposed the Truth is the Truth For otherwise this Reason of yours is none at all Which evidently makes all Religions alike to those who suppose them true Which is the thing you must own if you will maintain that my way of applying Force will as much promote Popery in France as Protestantism in England Whether this Usefulness of Force amounts to no more but this That it is not impossible but that it may be useful I leave to be judged by what has been said But you proceed and say Force your way applied as it may be useful so also it may be useless For 1. Where the Law punishes Dissenters without telling them it is to make them consider tâ—ey may through ignorance and oversight neglect to do it and so your Force proves useless But where the Law provides sufficient â—eans of Instruction for all as well as Punishment for Dissenters it is so plain to all concern'd that the Punishment is intended to make them consider that I see no danger of men's neglecting to do it through ignorance or oversight 2. You say Some Dissentâ—rs may have consider'd already and then Force employ'd upon them must needs be useless unless you can think it useful to punish a man to make him do that which he hath done already And I say No man â—ho rejects Truth necessary to his Salvation has consider'd already as he ought to consider Which is enough to shew the vanity of this Argument 3. You say God has not directed it and therefore we have no reason to expect he should make it successful The contrary of which shall be shewn in a more proper place You add further that Force may be hurtful nay you say it is likely to prove more hurtful than useful 1. Because to punish men for that which 't is visible cannot be known whether they haâ—e perform'd or no is so palpable an injustice c. Which has already been spoken to 2. Because the greatest part of Mankind being not able to discern betwixt Truth and Falshood that depend upon long and many Proofs and remote Consequences nor having ability enough to discover the false Grounds and resist the captious and fallacious Arguments of Learned Men vers'd in Controversies are so much more exposed by the Force which is used to make them hearken to the Information and Instruction of men appointed to it by the Magistrate or those of his Religion to be led into Falshood and Error than they are likely this way to be brought to embrace the Truth which muâ—t save them by how much the National Religions of the World are beyond comparison more of them False or Erroneous than such as have God for their Author and Truth for their Standard If the first part of this be true then an Infallible Guide and Implicit Faith are more necessary than ever I thought them For if the greatest part of Mankind be not able to discern betwixt Truth and Falshood in matters concerning their Salvation as you must mean if you speak to the purpose their condition must needs be very hazardous if they have not some Guide or Iudge to whose determination and direction they may securely resign themselves But for my part as I know of no such Guide of God's appointing so I think there is no need of any such because notwithstanding the long and many Proofs and remote Consequences the false Grounds and the captious and fallacious Arguments of Learned Men vers'd in Controversies with which you as well as those of the Roman Communion endeavour to amuse us through the Goodness of God the Truth which is necessary to Salvation lies so obvious and exposed to all that sincerely and diligently seek it that no such person shall ever fail of attaining the knowledge of it Nor is the famous instance you give us of the two Rainoldses of any moment to prove the contrary unless you can undertake that he that err'd was as sincere in his enquiry after that Truth as you suppose him able to examine and judge But whatever you think of this matter 't is plain the Force you here speak of is not Force my way applied i.e. applied to the promoting the true Religion onely but to the promoting of all the National Religions in the World And therefore I can easily grant you all that you would have without any the least prejudice to my Cause For how much soever the National Religions are more of them False or Erroneous than such as
their spiritual and eternal good by such means as their several Places and Relations enable them to use so does it especially oblige the Magistrate to do it as a Magistrate i.e. by that Power which enables him to do it above the rate of other men So far therefore is the Christian Magistrate when he gives his helping hand to the furtherance of the Gospel by laying convenient Penalties upon such as reject it or any part of it from using any other means for the Salvation of men's Souls than what the Author and Finisher of our Faith has directed that he does no more than his Duty to God to his Redeemer and to his Subjects requires of him You add You may be mistaken in what you think useful No doubt of that Sir But you have not shewn that I am mistaken Dives thought say you and so perhaps should you and I too if not better inform'd by the Scriptures that it would be useful to rouze and awaken men if one should come to them from the dead But he was mistaken And we are told that if men will not hearken to Moses and the Prophets the means appointed neither will the Strangeness nor Terror of one coming from the dead perswade them Very good Sir And what then Dives thought it seems that though Moses and the Prophets had not prevail'd with his Brethren to repent yet if Lazarus were sent to them from the dead to testify what he had seen and heard in the other World such an Evidence as this so much greater than Moses and the Prophets had given of the Necessity of Repentance would not fail of taking effect upon them But herein Abraham assures him he was mistaken and tâ—at the true ground of his Brethren's not being perswaded by Mâ—ses and the Prophets was not any want of Evidence in them as he thought it was but onely their own Hardness and Insensibility contracted by the custom of sinning which render'd them incapable of any impressions from the greatest Evidence that could be given This I take to be the meaning of those words If they hear not Moses and the Prophets i.e. if they hear them not effectually so as to be perswaded by them as appears by the next Clause where the same thing is express'd by that word neither will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead But how does this concern the matter before us Is there any thing in my Assertion like this Mistake of Dives Do I any where say that the means appointed for the satisfying men's Minds concerning the true Religion are not sufficient to do it without the Assistance of outward Force Or that the Magistrate is more likely to convince men's Understanding by inflicting Penalties than Christ's Ministers are by preaching the Gospel If I had said any such thing you might reasonably enough have put me in mind how Dives was mistaken in what he thought useful But if I do expresly deny that Force has any proper Efficacy to convince men's Minds and do place all its Usefulness in its Subserviency to the means appointed for that purpose as it is apt to take off that unreasonable Aversness and Prejudice which usually keeps those who reject the Truth from applying themselves to those means then though Dives was mistaken in thinking that Lazarus might be able to convert his Brethren though Moses and the Prophets had not done it it may however be no Mistake to think Force useful for the purpose for which I affirm it to be so You go on If what we are apt to think useful were thence to be concluded so we should I fear be obliged to believe the Miracles pretended to by the Church of Rome Never fear it Sir for I assure you there is no danger of it But it seems you think there is For say you Miracles we know were once useful for the promoting true Religion and the Salvation of Souls which is more than you can say for your Political Punishments But yet we must conclude that God thinks them not useful now unless we will say that which without Impiety cannot be said that the Wise and Benign Disposer and Governer of all things does not now use all useful means for promoting his own Honour in the World and the good of Souls And then you add I think this Consequence will hold as well as what you draw in near the same words But I think it is easy to shew it will not For in the place you intend I speak not of useful but of competent i. e. sufficient means Now competent or sufficient means are necessary but I think no man will say that all useful means are so And therefore though as I affirm it cannot be said without Impiety that the Wise and Benign Disposer and Governer of all things has not furnish'd Mankind with competent means for the promoting his own Honour in the World and the good of Souls yet it is very agreeable with Piety and with Truth too to say that he does not now use all useful means Because as none of his Attributes obliges him to use more than sufficient means so he may use sufficient means without using all useful means For where there are many useful means and some of them are sufficient without the rest there is no necessity of using them all So that from God 's not using Miracles now to promote the true Religion you cannot conclude that he does not think them useful now but onely that he does not think them necessary And therefore though what we are apt to think useful were thence to be concluded so yet if whatever is useful be not likewise to be concluded necessary there is no reason to fear that we should be obliged to believe the Miracles pretended to by the Church of Rome For if Miracles be not now necessary there is no inconvenience in thinking the Miracles pretended to by the Church of Rome to be but pretended Miracles But after all how comes this Supposition in That what we are apt to think useful is thence to be concluded so For whatever you would insinuate I speak not of what we are apt to think or phansy with little or no reason to be useful but of what we judge so upon just and sufficient grounds Upon a strong Probability of Success which you your self seem to think sufficient not onely to ground an opinion of its Usefulness but even to warrant the Use of it grounded upon the consideration of Humane Nature and the general temper of Mankind apt to be wrought upon by the Method I speak of And upon the indisputable attestation of Experience For how confidently soever you tell me here that it is more than I can say for my Political Punishments that they were ever useful for the promoting true Religion I appeal to all observing persons Whether where-ever true Religion or sound Christianity has been nationally received and establish'd by moderate Penal Laws it has not always
visibly lost ground by the relaxation of those Laws Whether Sects and Heresies even the wildest and most absurd and even Epicurism and Atheism have not continually thereupon spread themselves and Whether the very Spirit and Life of Christianity has not sensibly decayed as well as the number of sound Professors of it been dayly lessen'd upon it Not to speak of what at this time our eyes cannot but see for fear of giving offense Though I hope it will be none to any that have a just concern for Truth and Piety to take notice of the Books and Pamphlets which now fly so thick about this Kingdom manifestly tending to the multiplying of Sects and Divisions and even to the promoting of Scepticism in Religion among us In which number I shall not much need your pardon if I reckon the First and Second Letter concerning Toleration And if these have always been the Fruits of the relaxation of moderate Penal Laws made for the preserving and advancing true Religion I think this consideration alone is abundantly sufficient to shew the Usefulness and Benefit of such Laws For if these Evils have constantly sprung from the relaxation of those Laws 't is evident they were prevented before by those Laws Though the Work of our Salvation be as you justly call it stupendous and supernatural yet I suppose no sober man doubts but it both admits and ordinarily requires the use of natural and humane means in subordination to that Grace which works it And therefore till you have shewn as you have not yet that no Penal Laws that can be made can do any service toward the salvation of men's Souls in subordination to God's Grace or that God has forbidden the Magistrate to serve him in that great Work with the Authority which he has given him there will be no occasion for the Caution you give us not to be wiser than our Maker in that stupendous and supernatural work You add When you can shew any Commission in Scripture for the use of Force to compell men to hear any more than to embrace the Doctrine of others that differ from them we shall have reason to submit to it and the Magistrate have some ground to set up this nâ—w way of Persecution To which I answer Though no Force can compell men to embrace if by that you mean to believe the Doctrine of others that differ from them yet some Force may induce those who would not otherwise to hear what may and ought to move them to embrace the Truth And if the Magistrate has Commission to use convenient Force or Penalties for that purpose his doing it will not be the setting up a new way of Persecution but the discharging an old Duty I call it so because it is as old as the Law of Nature in which the Magistrate's Commission lies as has been shewn already For the Scriâ—ture does not properly give it him but presupposes it and speâ—ks of him as antecedently entrusted with it as it does also the Law of Nature which is God's Law as well as the Scripture But till then you say i. e. till I can shew a Commission in Scripture c. 't will be fit for us to obey that Precept of the Gâ—spel which bids us take heed what we hear So that hearing is not always so useful as you suppose If it had we should never have had so direct a Caution against it This I suppose is onely intended for the vulgar Reader For all the Force of it lies in our English Version of the Text you mention Which may and ought the Context requiring it to be render'd Attend or give heed to what you hear And if this be the true sense of the Place as any one that considers it well will find it to be then our Saviour's Precepâ— is so far from being a direct Caution against hearing that on the contrary it requires hearing with great Attention and Consideration Go and teach all Nations you say was a Commission of our saviour's But there was not added to it Punish those that will not hear and consider what you say No but if they will not receive you shake off the dust of your feet leave them and apply your selâ—es to some others Which is all very true indeed but nothing at all to your purpose For as our Saviour was no Magistrate and therefore could not inflict Political Punishments upon any man so much less could he empower his Apostles to do it But as he could not punish men to make them hear him so neither was there any need that he should He came as a Prophet sent from God to reâ—eal a new Doctrine to the World And therefore to prove his Mâ—ssion he was to do such things as could onely be done by a divine Power And the Works which he did were abundantly sufficient both to gain him a hearing and to oblige the World to receive his Doctrine And accordingly when he sent his Apostles to preach his Gospel though as he could not so he did not add Punish those that will not hear and consider what you say yet he communicated to them the Power of Miracles and bad them heal the sick cleanse the Lepers raise the dead and cast out Devils Which might serve altogether as well to procure them a hearing and a great deal better to manifest the divine Authority of their Doctrine so as to leave them that should not embrace it more inexcusable than Sodom and Gomorrha And what extraordinary Gifts and Powers our Lord bestow'd after his Asscension for the propagation of his Gospel which were continued in his Church in such measures as he thought fit for some Ages after I need not mention But what can be concluded from hence That when Christian Religion was sufficiently rooted and establish'd in the World and those extraordinary Graces were withdrawn as no longer necessary Penal Laws could do no service toward the preserving and promoting it or That the Christian Magistrate had no Authority to make any such Laws for the preserving and promoting it No such matter On the contrary considering that those extraordinary Mâ—ans were not withdrawn till by their help Christianity had prevail'd to be receiv'd for the Religion of the Empire and to be supported and encouraged by the Laws of it I cannot but think it highly probable if we may he allow'd to guess at the Counsils of infinite Wisdom that God was pleas'd to continue them till then not so much for any necessity there was of them all that while for the evincing the Truth of the Christian Religion as to supply the want of the Magistrate's Assistance You add further St. Paul knew no other means to make men hear but the Preaching of the Gospel as will appear to any one who will read Rom. 10.14 c. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God But whoever will consider as well as read the Place will find no such
and I thought fit to mention it to prevent Cavils yet it is none of the Mâ—â—ns of which I was speaking in the place you referr to which any one who reads that Paragraph will find to be onely Humane Means And therefore â—hough the Grace of God be both a proper and sufficient Means and such as can work by it self and without which neither Penalties nor any other Means can do any thing yet it may be true however that when Admonitions and Intreaties fail there is no Humane Means left but Penalties to bring prejudiced Persons to hear and consider what may convince them of their Errors and discover the Truth to them And then Penalties will be necessary in respect to that end as an Humane Means What you intend by saying that the Grace of God is the onely Means I do not well understand If you mean onely that it is the principal and most necessary Means and that without which all other Means are vain and ineffectual I grant it is so Or if you mean that it is the onely necessary Means as being able to do its work without any help of other Means This I have already granted But if by calling it the onely Means you intend to say that it does either always or ordinarily exclude all other Means I see no ground you have to say it Yes say you God alone can open the Ear that it may hear and open the Heart that it may understand But by your â—â—vour this does not prove that he makes use of no Means in doing it For whatever Means we may suppose him to make use of it is he alone still that does it though he does it by the Means he makes use of You add And this he does i.e. he opens the Ear that it may hear and the Heart that it may understand in his own good time and to whom he is gratiously pleas'd but not according to the Will and Phansy of Man when he thinks fit by Punishments to compell his Brethren By which I suâ—pose you mean that the Magistrate has no ground to hope that God will bless any Penalties that he may use to bring men to hear and consider the Doctrine of Saâ—vation or which is the same thing that God does not at least not ordâ—â—arily afford his Grace and Assistance to them who are brought by such Penalties to hear and consider that Doctrine to enable them to hear and consider it as they ought i. e. so as to be moved heartily to embrace it If this be your meaning then to let you see that it is not true I shall onely desire you to tell me whether they that are so brought to hear and consider are bound to believe the Gospel or not If you say they are and I suppose you dare not say otherwise then it evidently follows that God does afford them that Grace which is requisite to enable them to believe the Gospel Because without that Grace it is impossible for them to believe it and they cannot be bound to believe what it is impossible for them to believe You go on If God has pronounced against any Person or People what he did against the Iews Isai. 6.10 Make the heart of this People fat and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and convert and be heal'd Will all the Force you can use be a means to make them hear and understand and be converted No Sir it will not But what then What if God declares that he will not heal those who have long resisted all his ordinary Methods and made themselves morally speaking incurable by them Which is the utmost you can make of the words you quote Will it follow from thence that no good can be done by Penalties upon others who are not so far gone in Wickedness and Obstinacy If it will not as it is evident it will not to what purpose is this said In the next place you attempt to return my Argument And that you may do it the more successfully you represent it as you commonly do in such a manner as if I allow'd any Magistrate of what Religion soever to lay Penalties upon all that dissent from him Whereas in my own words it stands thus When men fly from the means of a right Information and will not so much as consider how reasonable it is throughly and impartially to examine a Religion which they embraced upon such Inducements as ought to have no sway at all in the matter and therefore with little or no examination of the proper Grounds of it What humane Method can be used to bring them to act like Men in an affair of such consequence and to make a wiser and more rational choice but that of laying such Penalties upon them as may balance the weight of those Prejudices which enclined them to preferr a False Way before the True c Now this Argument you pretend to retort in this manner And I say I see no other means left taking the World as we now find it wherein the Magistrate never lays Penalties for Matters of Religion upon those of his own Church nor is it to be expected they ever should to make men of the National Church any where throughly and impartially examine a Religion which they embraced upon such Inducements as ought to have no sway at all in the matter and therefore with little or no examination of the proper Grounds of it And therefore I conclude the use of Force by Dissenters upon Conformists necessary And then you add I appeal to all the World whether this be not as just and natural a Conclusion as yours And I am well content the World should judge And when it determines that there is the same reason to say That to bring those who conform to the National Church to examine their Religion it is necessary for Dissenters who cannot possibly have the Coactive Power because the National Church has that on its side and cannot be National without it to use Force upon Conformists As there is to say That where the National Church is the true Church there to bring Dissenters as you call them to examine their Religion it is necessary for the Magistrate who has the Coactive Power to lay moderate Penalties upon them for dissenting I say when the World determines thus I will never pretend any more to judge what is reasonable in any case whatsoever For I doubt not but I may safely presume that the World will easily admit these two things 1. That though it be very fit and desireable that all that are of the true Religion should understand the true Grounâ—s of it that so they may be the better able both to defend themselves against the assaults of Seducers and to reduce such as are out of the Way yet this is not strictly necessary to their Salvation because Experience shews as far as men
next End for which they are to be punish'd But what is that to your Question which if it be pertinent demands for what Fault not for what End they are to be punish'd As appears even by your next words So that they are punish'd not for having offended against a Law i. e. not for any Fault For there is no Law of the Land that requires them to examine It seems then the Likeness of the two Pleas lies in this The Pleaders for the French Discipline say that those who refuse to go to Mass are not punish'd for their Religion but for disobeying the King's Laws And you make me say that Dissenters are to be punish'd not for having offended against a Law And were there ever any Twinns more like than these two Pleas are But as if you had forgotten the Likeness you talk'd of you conclude with these words And which now is the fairer Plea pray judge So that the thing I am to judge of at last is not how like these Pleas are to each other but which is the fairer Plea of them Now I confess as you have made my Plea for me I think there is no considerable difference as to the Fairness of them excepting what arises from the different Degrees of Punishment in the French Discipline and my Method But if the French Plea be not true and that which you make to be mine be not mine To what purpose is it to enquire which is the fairer of them The truth of the matter is this The French Discipline Dragoons men and many as you say out of their lives for not coming to Mass which is no Fault to make them come to Mass which they cannot do wiâ—hout sin And my Method punishes men with Punishments which do not deserve to be call'd so when compared with those of the French Discipline for rejecting the true Religion proposed to them with sufficient Evidence which certainly is a Fault to bring them to consider and examine the Evidence with which it is proposed that so they may embrace it which is both lawful for them and their duty to do And which of these Methods or Pleas is the fairer let all the World judge Whereas you say here that there is no Law of the Land that requires men to examine I think the contrary is plain enough For where the Laws provide sufficient means of Instruction in the true Religion and then require all men to embrace that Religion I think the most natural Construction of those Laws is that they require men to embrace it upon Instruction and Conviction as it cannot be expected they should do without examining the Grounds upon which it stands How pertinent the Declamation is which makes up the rest of this Paragraph appears sufficiently by what has been said and will appear yet further before I take leave of you But that this new sort of Discipline may as you pretend have all fair play you come now to enquire at large into several Particulars relating to it As namely Who it is I would have to be punâ—sh'd For what I would have them punish'd With what sort of Penalties what degree of Punishment they should be forced And how long they are to be punish'd And here upon all these Heads you discover as you imagine such Difficulties and Inconsistencies as are enough to spoil any Discipline in the World and render it just good for nothing But I hope I have not follow'd you thus close hitherto to no purpose but am apt to think that I have already abundantly laid open the Mistakes and Cavils upon which those Imaginations are grounded And therefore having as I suppose sufficiently prepared my way I shall without more adoe address my self to manifest the Consistency and Practicableness of my new Method as you will have it in the way you your self prescibe me viz. by telling the World plainly and directly 1. Who are to be punish'd 2. For what 3. With what Punishments 4. How long 5. What Advantage to true Religion it would be if Magistrates every where did so punish 6. And lastly Whence the Magistrate had Commission to do so Which when I have done and by settling these Points have framed the parts of my new Engine set it together and shew'd that it will work without doing more harm than good in the World you tell me you think then men may be content to submit to it Onely before I do this I crave leave to take some notice of one of the Conditions you are pleas'd to lay upon me For you require me to do it â—ot onely plainly and intelligibly without keeping in the uncertainty of general expressions which is reasonable enough but likewise without supposing all along my Church in the right and my Religion the true Now as to this latter Condition I confess I do not see how you can oblige me to it For if my Church be in the right and my Religion be the true why may I not all along suppose it to be so You say this can no more be allow'd to me in this case whatever my Church or Religion be than it can be to a Papist or a Lutheran a Presbyterian or an Anabaptist nay no more to me than it can be allow'd to a Iew or a Mahometan No Sir Not whatever my Church or Religion be That seems somewhat haâ—d And methinks you might have given us some Reason for what you say For certainly it is not so self-evident as to need no proof But I think it is no hard matter to guess at your Reason though you did not think fit expressly to own it For 't is obvious enough that there can be no other Reason for this Assertion of yours but either the equal Truth or at least the equal Certainty or Uncertainty of all Religions For whoever considers your Assertion must see that to make it good you will be obliged to maintain one of these two things Either 1. That no Religion is the true Religion in opposition to other Religions Which makes all Religions true or all false and so either way indifferent Or 2. That though some one Religion be the true Religion yet no man can have any more reason than another man of another Religion may have to believe his to be the true Religion Which makes all Religions equally certain or uncertain whether you please and so renders it vain and idle to enquire after the true Religion and onely a piece of good luck if any man be of it and such good luck as he can never know that he has till he come into the other World Whether of these two Principles you will own I know not But certainly one or the other of them lies at the bottom with you and is the lurking Supposition upon which you build all that you say But as unreasonable as this Condition is I see no need I have to decline it nor any occasion you had to impose it upon me For certainly the